Curb your speed and park safely is school's call to parents

A school is making a drastic bid to drive home the potential danger of speeding and irresponsible parking.
Pupils Alexandra Bishop and Olly Spencer, with other students lying on the road markings outside St Mary Magdalene's RC Primary School as part of their road safety campaign.Pupils Alexandra Bishop and Olly Spencer, with other students lying on the road markings outside St Mary Magdalene's RC Primary School as part of their road safety campaign.
Pupils Alexandra Bishop and Olly Spencer, with other students lying on the road markings outside St Mary Magdalene's RC Primary School as part of their road safety campaign.

As part of a road safety campaign children at St Mary Magdalene’s RC Primary posed for photographs led on the yellow zig zag lines outside their school in Wellfield Drive.

Teacher Miss Emma Taylor said: “This is a drastic move but one we believe is necessary in our bid to really get the message home about parking safely and not speeding.

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“We have highlighted this issue so many times in newsletters but nothing was changing so we decided to take action.

“Pupils themselves came up with the idea of a road safety campaign.”

Last year neighbouring school, Wellfield C of E, used a similarly shocking image of pupils lying on the safety lines after a pupil was knocked over by a car. The campaign was a bid to make parents and motorists realise their thoughtless driving was putting children’s lives at risk.

Emblazoned with the words, School Keep Clear, the zig zag lines were introduced nationally in 1975 to show that the area must be kept clear to allow a clear view for drivers and also children crossing the road.

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Yet many drivers ignore the road markings, and also the time restrictions, and park there while dropping off or collecting their children.

Miss Taylor said: “There are plenty of safe places to park that are still close to the school.

“It can be chaotic outside school at drop off and pick up times with people just parking anywhere and children getting out of cars on the road side.”

Wellfield Drive is a 20 mph zone yet many motorists flout this speed limit on a regular basis.

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Miss Taylor added: “The speed of some drivers is frightening, especially when we have a lot of children who walk to school.”

To help keep youngsters safe the school also plans to make a bid for a school crossing patrol.

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